Shades of Black
by Lady Livia
Summary: Lily and James are happily married and Sirius is a constant guest at their house. Until Lily's cousin, Livia, comes over from Ireland as a representative for the Irish branch of the order of the Phoenix. Suddenly Sirius doesn't know whats going on... he's
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Sirius yawned and opened his eyes, glancing casually around his bedroom. Something was different. After a moment he realized what it was, the sun had not fully risen yet. With a groan as he realized that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, he threw off his sheet and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Stumbling from the room in his blue pajamas he made his way to the kitchen, picking up his wand and lighting candles with it as he went. Upon entering his kitchen he sat down at the table and sighed, the delivery owl that usually brought him his morning paper hadn't arrived yet. Sirius glanced up at the clock on the wall, 5:27! "What the…?" he groaned. He hadn't been awake this early since… well, since the morning he had finally moved out of home. And that had been when he was sixteen, four years ago. He had wanted out so bad that he had done it as quickly as he could, and that had meant waking up early, before everyone else- especially his mother! He had bought a place of his own straight away with the money his uncle had left him, though he had lived with his best mate James Potter and his parents until he had finished school and had been looking after himself ever since and had never looked back. Infact he rarely thought about his family if he could help it, they hated him and the feeling was mutual. He had known he was not like them since he was five; he had seen his mother hex a muggleborn witch for no apparent reason while shopping. When he had asked his mother why she had done it, she had replied with a sneer, "Because she and all of her kind are filth!" Sirius didn't understand, nor did he understand any of the attacks his mother displayed until he had turned ten. And by then he had firmly decided that he didn't truly belong in his family. The past few years, Sirius had hardly spared a thought for his family until recently, his younger brother; Regulus had been murdered about three months earlier. Though Sirius hadn't really gotten along with his brother as a child because of differences of opinion and later on due to Regulus' becoming a Death Eater, he still felt a slight sadness at the fact that his little brother had been murdered. Rumor had it that Regulus had wanted out of the Death Eaters as he had become uncomfortable with what they had wanted him to do. So his old friends had killed him.

Sirius was brought out of his deep thought by a soft rustling beside him; he looked up to see his paper in the beak of a large brown barn owl. He paid it and watched it fly back out the window and off into the rising sun. Sirius sighed and flipped the paper open to look at the front page. "Brilliant." He muttered darkly, seeing the face of a young witch staring at him sadly. The headline said that her name was Jillian Cass and that she had been found murdered late last night and that they suspected that 'He who Must Not Be Named and his followers were involved'. "Who else would it bloody well be?" Sirius demanded of the paper. After a brief scan of the rest of the paper, and finding nothing else of much importance, besides a small article saying that several objects of dark power had been confiscated and taken back to the ministry, Sirius pushed himself to his feet and while muttering to himself about what he'd do to the first Death Eater he came across, he poured himself a cup cold tea, then stuck his wand in it to heat it up. After trying to drink it and scalding the roof of his mouth, Sirius decided that he'd go and get dressed while leaving his tea on the table to cool off a bit.

Sirius walked slowly back to his bedroom pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes and running his fingers through his messy black hair. He seized a comb from his table and quickly pulled it through his hair, so that it flicked elegantly into his eyes.

Suppressing a yawn he pulled off his pajama top and rummaged through his wardrobe for a shirt to wear, he pulled out a nice white-buttoned shirt and after checking that it wasn't too wrinkled, he put it on. A few minutes later he had found a clean pair of jeans and had put them on too. After checking his reflection in his mirror and deciding that he looked pretty damn good, he returned to the kitchen and his now drinkable cup of tea.

About two hours and four cups of tea later a small light brown owl fluttered through the window and landed on the table almost knocking Sirius' tea over. Despite this, Sirius grinned at it as he recognized it as Lily and James' owl. He quickly untied the letter that was attached to its leg and read it…

_Oi Padfoot,_

_Any chance you could meet at our place today at_

_around eight thirty? Dumbledore told us to tell you _

_because apparently it has something to do with the Order. _

_I'm about to send letters to Moony and Wormtail as well, haven't_

_The foggiest why they couldn't do it at headquarters, but I guess_

_We'll find out. I think Lily knows something, but she wont tell me!_

_-The ever-wonderful Prongs_

Sirius shook his head, smiling as he read his friend's letter over again to get the details straight. He looked up at the clock, it was around seven thirty, he still had an hour to kill. Deciding that he had nothing to do, Sirius downed the rest of his tea, wrote a short reply and sent the owl on its way. He then ran up stairs to get his bike jacket, before heading to the garage and his motorbike. James wouldn't mind if he was early and it wasn't like he had anywhere else to be today. With the same surge of joy that always came with riding his bike, Sirius revved the engine to life then with a great roar he sped down his driveway and up the street. Once out of site of any watching muggles Sirius guided his bike into the air. Grinning at the sensation of the cool morning breeze upon his face, he headed for the Potter's.

Sirius landed his bike smoothly, without so much as a bump, in the Potter's back yard. He climbed off it and walked towards the house, seeing Lily in the garden by the back door. She had her back to him so she didn't see him coming. "Hey Lily!" he called, "Where's James?" As he reached her, Lily turned - only, it wasn't Lily. "Oh, I'm sorry." Sirius said, "I thought you were Lily." The woman who wasn't Lily smiled.

"I'm Lily's cousin, Livia." She said in a distinctive Irish accent.

"Sirius Black." Sirius replied, holding out his hand, Livia shook it. "So, you're Irish."

"Straight from Kildare." Livia said brightly. Sirius nodded his head in recognition of the name of the town.

"Look, sorry I called you Lily," he said, "it's just, you have the same colour hair, and from behind…well, you get the picture."

"And, of course this is Lily's house, so why wouldn't the red headed woman in the garden be Lily?" Livia added. For a moment Sirius couldn't tell if he had offended Livia and she was biting back, or whether she was joking. But then the corners of her lips turned up in the hint of a tiny smile and Sirius grinned. "Come on," Livia said "They're inside." She turned and led Sirius up the garden path towards the house. "So?" she asked, half way up the path. "Do I really look like Lily from behind?"

"Actually, not really." Sirius replied, looking at her. "Your hair's shorter and Lily's kinda taller than you, but I wasn't really paying attention, because I wasn't expecting anybody else here. I noticed you certainly weren't James, so I assumed Lily."

"Understandable." Livia replied as they reached the door "I would have been offended if you had called me 'James'." Sirius laughed at this.

"Not a chance." He said.

Livia led Sirius into the kitchen where Lily and James were sitting, eating their breakfast. As Livia reached the door Lily said to her, without looking up, "Did you see the big purple one? Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Yeah, it's lovely." Livia replied in her Irish accent. Sirius smiled slightly at this as James looked up.

"Hey Padfoot." He said, chewing on a piece of egg. Sirius walked over to the table and snatching a piece of bacon from James' plate replied, "Hey" James frowned as Sirius bit into his bacon and said indignantly,

"I was saving that for last!"

"You snooze, you lose." Sirius replied, before grinning at James as he stuffed the rest of the bacon into his mouth. "Would you like some breakfast, Sirius?" Lily asked kindly as James took a stance to protect the rest of his meal from Sirius.

"No thank you, Lily." Sirius replied, "I just had James', and what a lovely meal it was." He said grinning at James, who shot him a resentful look. "Ah, come now, James" Sirius said lightly, seeing this look. "Sharing is good for you."

"Yah, Sharing!" replied James "Not having randoms steal my bacon!"

"Randoms?" asked Sirius in mock outrage. Drawing himself up to his full height.

"Alright!" Lily said finally, "let's just stop that there," she turned and said to Livia, "Before they really get started" At this, both Sirius and James turned to stare at Lily.

"You want to see us really get started?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"No!" Lily replied quickly. "And neither does Liv."

"The stories are entertaining enough." Livia commented. Sirius looked around at her, then over to Lily. "What stories?" he asked, "Lily, What have you been saying about me?"

"Just…stuff." Livia answered, when her cousin didn't reply.

"What 'stuff'?" asked Sirius, frowning slightly. Livia smirked. "Lily!" Sirius complained.

"Stop your complaining." Lily replied, standing up and walking towards the door. "Come on, Liv. Let's cut some of those flowers for the kitchen table." Livia glanced at Sirius, smirking, before following her cousin out the door.

Sirius groaned and sank into a chair by James, who immediately shifted his elbow to shield his plate from Sirius. "So...?" Sirius asked, "What's your wife been saying about me?" James stuffed more egg into his mouth and shrugged. Sirius rose an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"I don't know." James said after swallowing his mouthful. "Lily always talks to Livia, they write, like, every day."

"Women." Sirius muttered, shaking his head, James nodded in agreement. Sirius leant his chair back on two legs and put his feet upon the table, yawning loudly. James looked at him, smirking. "Not getting enough sleep mate?" he asked. Sirius rose an eyebrow in amusement.

"Sadly, not for the reasons I'd like." He replied, "Nah, I woke up this morning at five thirty for some reason."

"There's a five thirty in the morning?" James asked, grinning.

"Yah, I'd almost forgotten about it too." Sirius said, yawning again. "So, how's your sleep going? Any improvement? How much do one month olds sleep anyway?"

"Not enough." James replied, stifling a yawn of his own. "He's taking a nap upstairs now. Typical, can't sleep at night, but has no problem during the day."

"He's gonna be a vampire." Sirius remarked, smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Livia stepped into the garden with Lily who was muttering something about "men...!" She smiled slightly as a warm summer breeze blew across her face. "So?" she asked her cousin, "What colours do you want?" Lily's head snapped up as Livia spoke to her. "What? Oh! Whatever, just make it bright and pretty." she replied, bending down and snipping off a white rose. Livia nodded, "Bright and pretty." she repeated, "purple is pretty," she commented as she cut off an iris flower. "Yellow is bright, Daffodils Lily?"

"Sure." Lily replied as she cut off a bunch of Daisies. Livia wandered over to the Jasmine and cut off a piece, smelling the beautiful aroma she smiled. Lily, seeing this grinned, "So?" she asked, "What did you think of Sirius?" Livia glanced up at her cousin before answering.

"Well, he certainly is a real character, isn't he? I knew it was him, the moment I saw him, I could hardly resist saying something. Instead, I pretended I didn't know who he was." At this Lily grinned,

"You knew it was him, just from what I've told you in my letters over the years?" Livia nodded, Lily rose an eyebrow, "How?" she asked.

"Well," Livia began, "He has this kind of air about him, a self assured, arrogant, but charming air. And you said he was attractive."

"So you think he is attractive?" Lily asked as she cut a red rose.

"Are you kidding?" Livia demanded, "He's hott!"

"Hott?" asked Lily in an amused voice.

"Don't pretend to be innocent with me Lily," said Livia, staring at her cousin "You know damn well that you think Sirius is hott too!" Lily grinned, "That is totally besides the point" she said, "And I am married to his best friend, who, by the way, I believe to be a billion times hotter!"

"James?" Livia asked "hotter than Sirius? Not on his best day, girl!" Lily's mouth dropped open in a silent gasp before poking her tongue out at her cousin. Livia smirked and bent to cut off a particularly beautiful dark red, almost black rose. "Isn't it divine?" she whispered to Lily who wandered over and looked at it, nodding.

"You can have that one in your room if you like." She told Livia who nodded her head quickly.

For the next five or so minutes, the women cut off a selection of flowers for the vase on the kitchen table. Once they had enough they went back inside to arrange them properly. James had, by now, finished his breakfast, and was sitting in his chair untying a letter that was attached to a small brown owl's leg. "That's my reply to the letter you sent me earlier this morning." Sirius was telling him as Livia and Lily entered the kitchen, holding the flowers.

"If you were coming straight over, why did you bother replying?" asked James as he got the letter free. Sirius leant further back on his chair's back legs and grinned. "You'll see." he replied. James looked at him briefly before he unfolded the letter. A moment later he let out a long loud laugh, and passed the parchment to Lily who had just put down her armful of flowers on the table. Lily quickly scanned the note, then looked at Sirius, eyebrows raised. "What?" asked Sirius, smirking as Lily passed the parchment to Livia, who looked down at it and read…

_Why certainly, my dear Prongs,_

_I will be kind enough to grace your house with my _

_Incandescent presence!_

_I shall arrive shortly, but as I am so wonderful, I shall_

_Arrive before your owl, (though I am giving_

_It a considerable head start) as it could never compare to me._

_-The brilliant Padfoot_

Livia looked up from the letter at Sirius and laughed. "You do think highly of yourself, don't you." She said to him. Sirius leant further back on his chair legs and stretched lazily, looking at her, "Well, " he said, slowly," When one is as brilliant as me, and one knows it, one tends to think highly of oneself, and rightly too." Livia shook her head an laid the flowers on the table beside the ones that Lily had just put down, before looking back up at Sirius to see him make a face at James, who had muttered something moments before. "Don't give me that look!" James cried indignantly "I am!"

"I beg your pardon, Prongs, but you SO are not sexier than me!" Sirius replied grinning at his friend. James glared at him evilly "I am too!" he replied. Sirius rose an eyebrow and regarded James with an amused look. "No you're not, you could never compare to me." He said. James frowned "Lily!" he complained "Tell Sirius that I'm sexier than him!" Lily sighed heavily and summoned a vase from the other side of he kitchen "Sirius," she said, "James is sexier than you."

"See!" James said forcefully at Sirius "See!" Sirius waved his hand dismissively and leant further back on the chair "She's your wife, she has to say that." He said, then looked at Livia "What do you think?" he asked her "Who's sexier? Me or James?" Livia stared at Sirius for a moment then shook her head. "Answer the question!" James cried impatiently.

"In the name of the Gods!" Livia muttered as she placed an Iris in the vase Lily had summoned then looked at Sirius, leaning his chair back on two legs, with a casual elegance. Then she looked at James, who was still in his protect-the-breakfast-from-Sirius stance. Livia sighed, "Sorry James." She said simply. Sirius let out a short bark like laugh and smiled widely.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, "The truth is revealed!"

"Pffft!" James said dismissively as he stood up and took his now empty plate over to the sink. "Obviously there's something wrong with her." He said to Sirius, shooting him a defiant look. Then grinning at Livia. Livia rose an eyebrow then looked back to the flowers that she and Lily were arranging.

"I'm going to check on Harry." Lily announced, a moment later, as she put the flowers down and strode from the room. "Finally." James muttered, before striding over to the cupboard and taking out a glass. He poured some water into it then made his way back to his chair. As he passed Sirius, James reached his hand out and pulled the back of Sirius' chair back slightly. Sirius flew backwards as his chair overbalanced and crashed to the floor. Landing in a heap, Sirius groaned and rolled off part of the chair that was digging into him. James roared with laughter as he watched his friend get to his feet. "Now THAT was funny!" he said.

"Oh, You're goin' down!" Sirius cried, diving at James. Causing the two men to fall to the floor in a scuffle. Livia stared at them, wondering if she should do something to stop them. She smiled widely as she spotted the glass of water that James had put on the table. In one fluid movement she had picked it up and thrown it over the two men on the floor. "Hey!" Sirius cried, releasing James from the headlock he had had him in, and getting to his feet.

Sirius rose an eyebrow as he stared at Livia. She gave him the same look in return. "What was that for?" he asked in a mock hurt voice. Livia gave him an innocent look, then replied, "Well, I didn't think that Lily would appreciate you two messing up her nice, clean, tidy kitchen"

"So, you just decided that YOU'D mess it up, by throwing water everywhere?" Sirius said simply. Livia grinned wickedly "Or, I could just tell Lily that it was you, then you'd be the one in trouble." Sirius stared at her for a moment, then smiled.

"You know," he said "I think I like you."

"Why thank you, Mr. Black." Livia replied lightly "I like me too." Sirius smirked at this reply and nodded.

"What in the name of the Gods happened here?" Lily demanded as she walked through the door and spotted the water all over the floor. "It was all James!" Both Livia and Sirius replied instantly in unison. "wha…?" James cried, from his position over by the sink. Lily threw a tea-towel at James "Well, James will just be cleaning it up then." She said, before motioning for both Livia and Sirius to follow her into the next room. "You have got to be kidding me!" James groaned. Livia winked at him as she followed her cousin out the door into the living room. "Have fun Prongsie!" Sirius said, as he too left James alone in the kitchen. "Hey, No!" James called after them, "This is SO not fair!"

Lily, Livia and Sirius all ignored this call and settled themselves in various chairs in the Potter's living room. Livia stretched as she lay out on a particularly long four seater couch, and then smiled at Lily and Sirius. "So…?" she asked, "What are we going to do now?"

"Well…" Sirius said slowly "We could make conversation…"

"About what?" asked Livia as she rearranged her skirt, so that she wasn't sitting on half of it. "Well…"pondered Sirius, putting on a face that suggested thinking was an immensely painful act. "How about you tell me why you've come to England, all of a sudden, and why I've never heard about you before, or if you're Lily's cousin, why I didn't meet you at the wedding?"

"Is that all?" Livia asked, once again raising an eyebrow.

"For now." Sirius replied, watching as Livia shuffled herself around again, to get comfortable. Sirius hurriedly put a hand up to his mouth to hide the smile that had formed as he watched her. She was indeed very attractive, her eyes were the same emerald green as her cousins, and she had the same coloured dark red hair, though Livia's was shorter, it came just to her collar bones, whereas Lily's fell to her elbows. Lily was pretty, he knew that, but Livia just had this air around her that attracted him, and he found that he could hardly look away from her.

"Are you okay?" Livia's voice sliced into his thoughts. Sirius blinked and nodded "Just waiting for you to answer my questions" he replied smiling in a charming manner. Livia, however didn't seem to notice, She simply nodded and took a deep breath, before beginning. "Well…" She said "I am here as a representative of the Irish branch of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore insisted we send somebody, and I got the job. As to why you've never heard of me before, I can only take a guess, and my guess is… that you aren't the listening type as you never stop talking –mostly about yourself. And I wasn't at Lily and James's wedding because I was in hospital. I had recently been on assignment for the order and, let's just say, things didn't go our way. I was out of action for a month, and I was unlucky enough to miss out on being a bridesmaid because of it, if the wedding had have been three days earlier, I could have been there."

"I remember something about that." Sirius said turning to Lily "You were in a right state because one of your bridesmaids couldn't be there; you thought that the sky was falling or something."

"Excuse me" said Lily, "but my cousin was in hospital and my wedding plans had just fallen through, I had a bloody good reason to be in a 'right state'!" Sirius shrugged and slouched down into the couch "I suppose so." He said, glancing at Livia out of the corner of his eye to see if she had noticed how alluring he was being. Apparently she hadn't. Sirius frowned slightly, he didn't think he'd ever come across a woman who didn't notice when he had turned the charm on.

They all looked up as a loud knocking came from the front door. "I've got it" Lily muttered getting to her feet and striding across to the door. Sirius turned to fully face Livia and smiled handsomely at her. Livia returned it with a cute smile of her own, but jumped to her feet a second later as Lily returned with two new people. Sirius looked up to see his other best friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. "Hey Moony" he said to Remus, who gave him a casual wave in way of reply before throwing himself onto an empty couch. "Hey Wormtail" Sirius said in turn to Peter, who grinned hugely at him and walked over to sit by him. Sirius was slightly annoyed by this as he was trying to get Livia's attention, as she confused him, and while he loved his best mates, he could not deny that Peter killed his 'sexy vibe'.

"Livia, this is Remus and Peter." Lily said indicating each in turn, "And boys, this is my cousin Livia." Sirius watched as Lily introduced each of them to each other and was getting slightly bored until James walked out of the kitchen grumbling to himself. "Prongsie, what took you so long, mate?" Sirius asked in his most innocent voice. James glared mockingly at him in reply and threw himself down beside Lily, who was explaining to Remus and Peter about Livia being a representative of the Irish Order of the Phoenix. "So?" asked Remus "Anybody know why Dumbledore wanted us all here?"

5


	3. Chapter 3

Okay… to answer questions asked in last reviews…

Firstly, to IRISHslytherin22: No I am not Irish myself, (my ancestors are –a fact I am very proud of! And later in life, would like to move to Ireland) But, I am Australian (Yawn, I know)

Secondly, to HermioneandDracoForever: yes this is before wormtail turned on Lily and James and framed MY Sexy Sirius. (Cover your ears children) Livia proceeds to swear spectacularly -about Peter- 

And finally a thanks to everyone of these fine, lovely people who reviewed my humble story…

Webling-girl05, Goldenlioness4, Anvia, IRISHslytherin22, acciobook, Little Kachina Whoa, Red-Devil15, Cameron Dax, HermioneandDracoForever and Not so sour Lemons.

Oh, and one last thing, I do feel the need for a disclaimer…I do not own the characters in this story, except for Livia. All other wonderfully brilliant (and in the case of Sirius –sexy) characters belong to the truly wonderful goddess J.K. Rowling. The Character Livia I use in most (if not all) of my stories is the main character in my own, original trilogy that I am currently writing, and she is also my alter ego.

Note to people who didn't follow that: The name I use on this site 'Lady Livia' is a pen name; Livia is not my actual, real name, no matter how much I wish it was. So those people out there who were thinking I was weird, and rather conceited using my own name in a story can go… kiss my feet! (or lick them… your choice)

Now, onto the story…!

**Chapter 3**

Sirius yawned as the others discussed what it possibly was that Dumbledore had asked them there for. He surveyed the room looking for something to amuse himself with, his gaze resting upon Livia. She truly was beautiful, he watched as she laughed at something James had said, her whole face lighting up, especially her eyes. Sirius shook his head, clearing his thoughts. What was wrong with him, he'd suddenly gone all weird and strange. These thoughts about Livia were totally inappropriate! He would control himself from now on… '_but her accent is so…' _Sirius' ears were locked on Livia's voice as she began to talk, his stomach full of highly overactive butterflies. Sirius wanted to slap himself across the face for being so stupid, he'd heard Irish accents before, why was hers any different?

"You okay Padfoot?" James' voice cut into Sirius' thoughts. Sirius flicked his eyes over to his best mate's face. "Yah" he replied with a smile, "Just thinking." James nodded and raised an eyebrow. Sirius gave a light scowl; he could tell that James didn't believe him. "I need a drink," he said suddenly, getting to his feet and moving towards the kitchen. "Anybody else want one?" he asked, they all shook their heads. So Sirius continued straight into the kitchen, once alone he leant on the table and took a deep breath. _'Get a grip Padfoot!' _he thought to himself. _'You're just not trying hard enough, look how long it took James to get Lily to even talk to him, you learnt a long time ago that the Evans family are not like everyone else.' _Sirius smiled at this thought, surely that was it. Lily had ignored James attempts to impress her, maybe that was why Livia hadn't noticed Sirius' displays of how sexy he was. Nodding to himself, Sirius made his way over to the cupboard where Lily kept her glasses and poured himself some water.

"Having fun?" asked a voice from behind him, a voice with a distinctive Irish accent. Sirius both cringed and smiled at the same time, when he realized it was Livia. He arranged his features into what he hoped was a passive look, then turned to face her. "Absolutely!" he replied brightly, "don't you know that we English folk, just adore sitting around all day drinking glasses of water for amusement."

"Okay…creepy." Livia muttered, then made her way over to the flowers she and Lily had half put into the vase. "No." Sirius said, stepping forward slightly "We don't really, I was kidding."

"Sure you were." Livia replied as she played around with an Iris, to get it right.

"No, Seriously, I was just teasing you. You can't seriously think that the English sit around all day drinking glasses of water for amus…" He broke off as he realised that Livia was infact teasing _him_. "Oh, you're good!" he said with a laugh. Livia smiled and gave a slight courtesy before glancing around the kitchen. Sirius looked at her calculatingly, and then smirked. He would just have to find another way to have an effect on her, and he would not stop until he found one. He had never not had an effect on a woman when he tried before and it was disturbing him, it wasn't natural!

"Where does Lily keep her vases?" Livia asked him a moment later. Sirius pointed up to a high cupboard in the corner of the room, above where the two side cooking benches that ran along two of the walls met. "Up there." He told her. Livia nodded "Thank you." She said walking over to the benches. She opened the cupboard and looked up into it. Sirius smiled widely as he watched her; there was no way she would be able to reach the vase she was after, at least not without magic. Sirius saw his opportunity, and went for it, He walked forward quickly as Livia reached for her wand and said, "I've got it" Livia spun to face him as he reached her. He smiled slyly and without giving her a chance to move out of the way, he stepped up incredibly close to her and reached up over her head to the vase, effectively trapping her in the corner, against the benches. Sirius heard her sharp intake of breath and grinned, pressing himself in closer to her, he didn't actually touch her, as that would have been going too far, but he came within millimetres of doing so. He could hear her breathing and was enormously pleased to hear that it was quite a bit faster than it would normally be. Satisfied with the effect he had had on Livia, he stepped back from her and held the vase out to her. Sirius struggled to contain his smile as he watched Livia force herself into composure, then with a trembling hand; take the vase he held out to her.

A moment later Lily's voice yelled from the next room for them "Liv, Sirius, Dumbledore's here. Come on!" Livia nodded her head slightly, then pulled out her wand and filled the vase with water. "Accio" she muttered summoning the almost black rose from the table and sitting it in the vase, before placing the vase on the bench behind her. "You alright?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Perfectly fine." Livia replied shortly, Sirius noticed that her voice was back to normal, she was fully composed and her hands no longer shook. He nodded his head towards the living room, "Shall we?" he asked. Livia smiled and walked ahead of him into the next room.

Dumbledore sat in an armchair facing the others. James stretched lazily and leant back resting his hands behind his head and yawning. Sirius smacked his friend in the back of the head as he entered the room and walked over to sit beside Remus. "So." He said, looking at Dumbledore. "What's up?" Sirius saw out of the corner of his eye, Livia stare at him in shock. He knew what she was thinking, she was shocked by the casual way in which he had addressed Dumbledore, most people were when they heard him speak to the man. Dumbledore however smiled slightly and said "Well, as you all may have noticed, Livia has arrived."

"I may have…" Sirius replied, only to receive an elbow in the ribs from Remus. Sirius rubbed his ribs as Dumbledore continued. "The Irish branch of the Order of the Phoenix has been kind enough to send her here to help us. We appear to have a spy."

"What do you mean a spy?" Lily asked her eyes wide in shock and horror.

"He means, Lily, Someone who is running and telling The Dark Lord everything we do and say." Sirius explained in a slow voice. Lily glared at him.

"Do you know who it is?" squeaked Peter, who had suddenly gone very pale and sweaty.

"Don't worry Wormtail." James said "We won't let them hurt you. The spy will be found out soon enough and suitably punished."

"What does this have to do with Livia?" asked Remus, who at the mention of a spy, had gripped the edge of his chair tightly, and Sirius was sure that Remus had momentarily stopped breathing. "Livia," Dumbledore explained "Is going to become _our_ spy. She is going to infiltrate the ranks of the Death Eaters and inform us of their plans, and also, hopefully, discover who the spy is."

"You're joking. Aren't you?" James exclaimed suddenly, sitting up straight and staring at Dumbledore. "No, James, I'm not." The man replied calmly.

"You can't make her do that! It's far too dangerous!" James insisted. Sirius could tell why James was so insistent on this; he had been shocked by the fact that Livia was to have such a job. His friend hadn't expected that Livia would be that kind of person, and to be totally honest, neither had he.

Sirius knew he was staring, but he could not take his eyes off Livia, for a different reason than before. He was searching for some kind of clue as to her secret self, for some hint that she could be a spy. He found none. Sirius supposed that that was a good thing, what use was a spy if it was obvious that they were a spy. Seeing Sirius looking at her, Livia smiled. "I know I don't look like I can handle this assignment." She said to them. "But I can. I've done this kind of thing before."

"You've infiltrated the Death Eaters' ranks before and personally betrayed Voldemort himself?" James asked sarcastically. Livia rose an eyebrow at him and shook her head, her dark red hair swaying about her face. "No, not exactly, but I am a very accomplished spy."

"Livia, this will be like nothing you could have possibly done before." Sirius told her softly. "I know" Livia replied "But I can handle it, I know what I'm doing." When Sirius looked doubtful Livia sighed, "Don't judge me by what you see." She said "I may look all innocent and delicate, but I'm not. I'm very good at what I do."

"I assure you all" Dumbledore said firmly. "I would not have accepted Livia if she were not able to handle the assignment."

That evening Sirius sat at Lily and James' kitchen table. He looked around at the others, Lily, James and Livia. "So…" Sirius asked slowly. "What do the Irish do for fun?" Livia rose an eyebrow at him as she put her fork down slowly, having finished her dinner. "What do you think we do?" she asked "We certainly aren't like you English, drinking glasses of water for amusement." Sirius grinned as both Lily and James looked up, confused. "Ah… what?" James asked.

"Don't worry" Sirius told him, smirking. Lily shook her head as she rocked Harry back and forth in her arms in an attempt to get him to stop the weird whining noise he was making. "I think that's probably for the best." She agreed.

"Well…?" Sirius asked Livia when he got no answer, "What do you guys do for fun… I hear a lot of stories about Bars and alcohol…" he broke off with a grin. Livia started laughing "Och yes!" she said "We Irish just adore drinking, we do it all the time, all day long, while practicing our Riverdance!... What do you think we do?"

"So…" Sirius said, smirking cutely at Livia "You can hold your drink pretty well…?" Livia raised an eyebrow "Is that a challenge Mr. Black?" she asked.

"Maybe? Are you accepting?" he replied.

"Maybe."

"No!" Lily said firmly. "You are NOT having a drinking competition in my house, I'll not have it!"

"Fine." Sirius said simply "We'll do it somewhere else…Livia?"

"Sounds good to me." Livia replied, pushing her chair back. "Where?"

"Well," Sirius said musingly as he rocked his chair back on two legs. "There's a Pub about ten minutes from here. We could take my bike."

"Absolutely not!" Lily cut in. "I'll not let you take my favourite cousin out, get drunk and try to bring her home on the back of that bike, while you're drunk!"

"What are you, her mother?" Sirius laughed.

"No, but she is a guest in my house and… Oh! If you insist on holding this stupid competition, I'd rather you did it here, then at least, I won't be worrying if you've crashed halfway home." Lily said sighing. Sirius began laughing and pointed his finger at Lily. "I think being a mother has changed you, you're all worries and safety first."

"She's always been like that." James pointed out.

"Yah, but it's gotten worse." Sirius said, still laughing.

Lily stood up and walked towards the door, carrying Harry. "I'll put Harry down." She said. "I'll clear the table." Livia offered, also standing. As Livia cleared the dirty dishes away and directed the washing up cloth to scrub the dishes clean, with her wand. Sirius turned to James "So mate…" He said with a grin, "Where's the booze?"

5


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer; Only the character of Livia Evans belongs to me a she is my alter ego, all others are the property of J.K.Rowling.

The "Hogwarts" song was written by my friend Shane Harris who was kind enough to allow me to use it in my story.

On with the story telling…

**Chapter 4**

By the time Lily had come back downstairs after putting Harry to bed, Sirius had gotten the alcohol out of the cupboard and put it all on a tray to carry into the living room. "Are you sure you need all the bottles of Gin, Vodka and IS THAT MY GOOD PORT?" Lily cried as she spotted the decorative glass bottle on the tray.

"Maybe…" Sirius replied slowly. Lily stalked over and snatched the bottle from the tray. "I think NOT!" she said. "I'll not let you waste good Port on a stupid drinking competition!"

"But Lils!" Sirius complained "I'm defending the honor of the English. Lily ignored him and turned to James who had just stood up from the table and moved to inspect the tray. "I didn't know we had Scotch!" he said, surprised. "Bourbon, Red Wine, Guinness, Gin, Vodka and Rum."

"Yeah, I know," Liv said laughing "You could open up your own Liquor store with all this."

"You know," James said, his face lighting up "That is a bloody good idea."

"No." Lily said firmly. James' face fell.

"Right, lets go." Sirius said, lifting the tray from the table and walking into the next room. Liv, Lily and James all followed him. Sirius set the tray down on the coffee table in front of the long four-seater couch that Livia had sat on earlier, when Dumbledore had been there. Livia threw herself onto the couch up one end while Sirius sat himself on the other and grinned at her. Livia rose an eyebrow at him and said "Shall we?" Sirius nodded and reached for the bottle of Rum, just as Lily plonked two glasses down on the tray. "You could at least use _some_ manners." She said curtly. Sirius nodded and filled one with the Rum, before passing it to Livia, then filling the next one and sitting back to drink it, himself. "C'mon Lils" said James as he summoned another two glasses from the kitchen and filled them with Rum and passed one to Lily. "Okay…" Lily agreed slowly as she reluctantly accepted the glass "But then we both go up to bed and leave these two to their own stupidity." She added as Livia pulled out her wand and lit a fire in the fireplace. "But then we wont get to see it when it gets funny…" James complained pulling his best puppy dog face. "James, you are not Sirius, that face doesn't work for you." Lily told him dryly.

About five minutes later Lily had finished her glass of Rum and was giggling slightly at nothing. "Time for bed." She said to James who pouted Lily gave him a seductive smile, then leant forward and whispered something in his ear. James face instantly erupted into a huge grin. "Okay!" he said getting to his feet hurriedly. Sirius and Livia exchanged amused looks as Lily also got to her feet and led James out of the room and up the stairs to their bedroom. "Not sure I want to picture that." Livia muttered sculling the rest of her Rum. Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Is that how you want to do this?" he asked also sculling the rest of his Rum, then grinning at her.

"Yah, Guinness next?" Livia asked as she reached forward and picked up the bottle of Irish beer. "Don't mind if I do." Sirius replied as he watched Livia pour them both a glass. "Cheers!" Livia said as she passed Sirius his glass and downed hers in one go. Sirius raised an eyebrow and did the same.

This continued for the next half an hour, until both Livia and Sirius were a bit tipsy. "Do you know anything about Hogwarts?" Sirius asked her after swallowing his glass of Vodka. Livia nodded "Lily told me all about it." She replied grinning in a particularly cute way that Sirius found extremely attractive. "Well…" He said slowly, "Do you know about the four houses?"

"I just said that Lily told me all about it!" Livia said giggling, then downed another shot of Vodka. Sirius frowned "You know, there's a lot about Hogwarts that Lils doesn't know." He replied "I doubt that anybody knows more about Hogwarts than me, James, Remus and Peter"

"And just why is that?" Livia asked. Sirius leant back, turning his charm on again. "Because," he replied "We are the Marauders!"

"Oooooh." Livia said, not sounding as impressed as Sirius had wanted her to.

"We found heaps of secret tunnels and all kinds of stuff and even made a map that shows where everybody in the castle is at all times and all the passageways and their passwords and it even insults anybody who tries to read it if they don't know the right password."

"Anything else?" Livia asked, eyebrows raised in amusement. Sirius downed a shot of Gin at the same time that Livia did, then nodded "Yeah," he breathed "Our nicknames, I'm Padfoot, James is Prongs, Remus is Werewolf… I mean Moony, cause he is a werewolf and Peter is Wormtail."

"I see." Livia said giggling again and passing Sirius another glass of Guinness "Where was this conversation going?"

"Wanna make a Hogwarts song with me, like the Hat does?" he asked smiling at her. Livia nodded and stood up, swaying slightly until Sirius stood also and grabbed her arm, steadying her. Livia laughed and spun around staring at the roof. "Okay, Here we go, how about this…" Sirius mused before bursting out with…

"A thousand years ago

When the school just opened shop

The great four founders argued

Started fighting and couldn't stop

See Slytherin was evil

Gryffindor had heart

Hufflepuff was dumbassed

Ravenclaw was smart

It was muggleborns at Hogwarts

That Slytherin couldn't hack

He walked on out that door

Just left and turned his back"

Here Livia piped up with…

"Hooogwarts

Hooogwaaaarts

Hooogwarts

Hooogwaaaarts"

Sirius grinned then continued…

"And ever since that day

We've been in civil war

And no ones ever asked

What the fuck we're fighting for

Why are Slytherin and Gryffindor

At each others throats

What about Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw

Come on lets take a vote

So heres my goddamn message

If you hear this listen more

If you cant take the prejudice

This is Hogwarts! There's the door!"

Sirius finished his song then bowed deeply to Livia who had started dancing and clapping her hands "Oh my Gods!" She cried, laughing uncontrollably "That was absolutely brilliant!"

"Why yes it was!" Sirius replied "If I don't say so myself."

"But you did say so yourself!" Livia cried, then promptly dove across the table for another shot of Scotch. "Oh!" she cried, after downing it in one.

"What?" Sirius asked

"Do you want to play twister?" she asked "It's a muggle game, but really easy and fun."

"Sure…" Sirius said slowly, his eyes narrowed. Wondering what kind of game would have the name Twister.

"Left foot green" Came the voice of the board with the spinny thing on it. Livia had bewitched it to spin itself and call out the results, as she and Sirius would be a bit preoccupied one the game started. And it's a bit hard to spin the pointer while all twisted up. Sirius groaned and stretched to reach his foot to the green. "You know I'm going to win." Livia said "So just give up now, Girls are more flexible than guys."

"I'm very flexible" Sirius smirked "I've had lots of practice…"

"Oh, whatever!" Livia replied, though she knew perfectly well that Sirius had probably always had any woman he chose.

"Left hand red" They both reached for the red.

"It's true" Sirius proclaimed. Livia laughed.

"Not being that ugly!" she said teasingly.

"Oi!" Sirius growled "If I wasn't sprawled out like this, I'd hurt you!"

"Like to see you try pansy!"

"Did you just call me a pansy?"

"Right hand yellow"

"Yes I did! What… are you deaf _and_ a pansy?"

Sirius growled and stood, approaching Livia, who cried "I win! Yay me!"

"Wha…? Oh!" Sirius mumbled, realizing that he had been tricked. "You're going down for that!" he told her. Livia stood up and made her way over to the table to get a drink. "Yeah, right…pansy!" she replied pouring herself some Rum.

Sirius wandered over to the table also and accepted the glass of Rum she offered him. "You know." He said slowly "Every other woman I've ever met would be unconscious after the amount of alcohol you've drank." Livia shrugged and replied "I told you I can handle my drink."

"Yah, but I'm the only person I know who can drink this much and not pass out!" Sirius insisted "It's amazing!"

"That's me." Livia said as she tucked a strand of her dark red hair behind her ear. Sirius stared at her _'yes it is.' _He thought to himself, and then smirked. This would be the perfect opportunity to catch Livia off her guard, as he could see that the alcohol was slowly having an affect on her and her shields would soon be down.

"What are you smirking at?" Livia asked a moment later.

"Nothing." Sirius replied, sipping his Rum slightly. He would soon have this puzzling woman at his mercy. "I think you're drunk." Livia said smiling at him.

"So are you!" Sirius retorted. Livia half nodded her head and then giggled raising her glass in a Toast like gesture "I'm _tipsy_! There's a difference." She informed him in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you say so…" Sirius agreed with a grin, taking a step toward her, turning his charm on once more. As he reached her Livia looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Care to dance?" he asked her with a charming smile. Livia cocked her head to the side "There's no music…" she replied doubtfully.

"We'll make our own music." Sirius suggested, pulling her towards him and wrapping an arm around her waist. He inwardly grinned at the look on Livia's face, he could see that his charm was having an effect on her, due to her being tipsy, but it was also apparent that Livia was struggling to remain in control of herself.

Humming a song, greatly out of tune, Sirius spun Livia around, pulling her across the room. Livia let out a cry of surprise as Sirius suddenly turned, pulling her the other way. Sirius grinned and suddenly dipped her; Livia let out a slight squeal then laughed. Sirius pulled her back up where she leant against him, still laughing lightly as he continued to hum purposely out of tune. Sirius rose an approving eyebrow as Livia leant against him; he tightened his arm around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I think we need a new song." Livia murmured, her head rested against Sirius' chest. Sirius paused before staring to hum 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. Livia giggled and looked up at him, catching his eye. She suddenly found that she could not look away, she felt herself drawn to Sirius' dark chocolate brown eyes.

Sirius looked sown into Livia's eyes and was amazed by the feeling that suddenly swelled inside him. He could not shift his gaze from her mesmerizing emerald eyes, he felt as if he were falling into them. _'She has hooks of her own.' _He realized, impressed. Tightening his arm around her waist, he raised his other hand to her cheek and was extraordinarily pleased that Livia did not object as he slowly bent towards her…

"Are you two still up?" came the voice of James from the doorway. Livia suddenly pulled away, brushing her hair back and trying to compose herself. Sirius looked up to see James, tousle haired and wearing red boxers enter the room and head to the kitchen. "Yeah." Sirius replied running a hand through his hair in frustration. Livia suddenly looked at her watch, cried "Is that the time?" said goodnight and ran up the stairs to her room. Sirius groaned and threw himself in a chair as James came back into the room. "You staying the night?" he asked.

"Yah." Sirius replied tonelessly.

"Okay," James said "Goodnight."

5


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sirius awoke the next morning with a gigantic hangover. Suppressing a groan he swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood up. Running a hand through his hair he staggered into the kitchen to see Livia singing brightly as she stood over the stove stirring a large pot. "What the hell…?" Sirius muttered as he leaned against the doorframe "Where is your hangover?" Livia turned to look at him, eyes wide.

"I…I didn't know you were still here." She stammered.

"I sometimes stay the night." Sirius replied massaging his temples to ease the pain. Livia walked forward and placed a mug of steaming liquid on the table in front of him. "Here. Drink this." She said, and then brushed past him on her way out the door. Sirius watched her run up the stairs and frowned, then, remembering what had happened last night, or rather, what had _almost _happened he sighed and pulled a chair out sitting down and dragged the mug Livia had left behind towards himself.

Not a moment later James walked in looking confused. "What's wrong with Liv?" he asked, seeing Sirius "She just almost flattened me on her way up the hallway." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea." He said slowly "Maybe…" Sirius broke off frowning. James now rose an eyebrow "maybe…what?" he asked. Sirius looked up at him. "Do you have any idea what you walked in on last night?" he asked James.

"No." James replied shortly "Why? What did I walk in on?" Sirius sighed and explained to his best friend what had happened once he had been left alone with Livia the night before.

"Oh!" James said, once Sirius had finished his story. "Sorry mate."

"Yah, you should be." Sirius replied flatly. "Do you know how long it took me to get her like that?"

"What?" asked James "Drunk?"

"I know." Sirius groaned "But my stuff wasn't working on her, I don't know what's going on…"

"Maybe you're losing your touch." James said with a grin. Sirius punched him in the arm then gave him a resentful look. "I think not!" he replied "I'll just have to try harder."

"A first for you?" James asked. Sirius grinned then swallowed a mouthful of the liquid in his mug; it tasted sweet, like honey mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg. A moment later all symptoms of his hangover had disappeared. Sirius blinked and stared at the mug in surprise. "What?" James asked.

"Taste this." Sirius said, handing James the mug. James obediently took a sip and nodded. "Liv's hangover cure." He told Sirius. "When Lils and I went to visit Liv in Ireland we decided to check out the local taverns and, well, we weren't very happy the next morning. Liv cooked this up for us and well, you've seen the results for yourself."

"Uh…What exactly _is_ Liv?" Sirius asked, beginning to get confused- a feeling he didn't much care for. James laughed lightly and replied. "She's a spy for the Order, but her public alias is a kind of Apocathary person, you know. Owns an Apocathary, makes herbal cures and potions, sells herbs, you get the idea." Sirius nodded and finished the rest of the mixture. "She's good." He said softly. James nodded and replied.

"According to Lily, Livia has always been extremely gifted with potions and had always planned on a career with them." He stopped and looked at Sirius, wondering if his friend had meant something else. Sirius however gave no indication that he had meant anything other than what James had replied to and promptly stood up. "I might just duck home." He said. "Have a shower, get changed. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Okay. See you later." James replied, thumping his friend on the back a couple of times in an affectionate manner. As Sirius walked out the door he heard James calling up the stairs for Lily to come and feed him. Shaking his head, Sirius strode across the lawn to his motorbike. Slipping on his riding jacket he mounted his bike and swiftly directed it into the air with a giant roar.

Livia watched Sirius fly away on his bike from behind the dark curtains of her room. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself and strode across the room to the door. Stepping out into the hallway Livia met Lily who was taking the sleeping Harry back to his room. "He only just fell asleep." Her cousin explained. Livia nodded and pushed her hair behind her ears, taking a deep shuddering breath. Lily looked up at her from her son, "What's wrong?" she asked concerned. Livia gave her a pleading look and Lily took her arm and led her into the nursery. Laying Harry in his cot, Lily turned to face Livia. "It's Sirius, isn't it?" she asked. Livia gave her a surprised look then nodded. Lily sighed and sat in the chair beside the cot. "What's he done now?" she asked. Livia paused and then replied "it's not _just_ Sirius, it's me too…I…I don't know…" she broke off hopelessly. Lily nodded "What happened last night?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Livia winced and said very hurriedly, "We got very drunk and made a song and played twister then he made me dance with him then he almost kissed me…and I almost let him." Livia paused and then added "…would have let him…If James hadn't walked in."

"What did you do?" Lily asked

"What anybody would have done." Livia replied "Panicked and ran."

"Ah." Lily said with a slight smile. Livia stared at her waiting for more of a reply than that. When she didn't get one Livia made a face and said,

"Sometimes when I'm near Sirius I'm fine, but then sometimes, suddenly, I feel like I can't control myself, and It's very hard to remain composed."

"That would be Sirius turning his famous charm on." Lily told her with a smirk "most women can't resist it…infact, you're the only one I've heard of who has."

"What about you?" Livia asked frowning, Lily shook her head.

"He's never tried it on me." She said "You remember how I told you that James had always been after me?" Livia nodded "Well, the others all considered me James' girl and Sirius is a very loyal friend, he never touched me."

"Oh." Livia said

"Poor Sirius.' Lily suddenly said laughing "he's probably so very confused right now."

"Why?" Livia asked

"Because he probably can't figure out why you haven't thrown yourself at him." Lily replied as they heard James coming up the hall calling his wife. Lily stood up and both women made for the door, when they reached it Lily grabbed Livia's arm "Did you want him to kiss you?" she asked. Livia blinked at her before replying.

"I was drunk. It doesn't count."

Sirius landed his bike smoothly and guided it inconspicuously up his street, before leaving it in his driveway and walking up to his front door. _'What's so special about this woman?' _he thought _"I could walk down this street right now and have any woman I came across.' _Here Sirius smacked himself in the forehead in frustration. _'So why can't I stop thinking about_ her_?' _He asked himself "Because she's gorgeous." He said aloud to nobody unparticular "And she's funny. And smart." _'And she doesn't want me like everybody else does.' _He threw his keys onto the bench by the door with his jacket and made his way upstairs, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. Once Sirius had reached the landing he had his shirt fully unbuttoned, he pulled it off and tossed it into his bedroom as he passed it on his way to the bathroom. Sirius turned the water on then continued to undress as he let the water heat up. Stepping under the hot water Sirius sighed as he felt his muscles relax, he hadn't realized that he was so tense. It was then that he remembered why he had gone to the Potter's house the day before in the first place, and the reason Livia had come to England…they had a traitor. Sirius scowled as he thought about who it could possibly be then froze as he remembered Remus' reaction to the news. Sirius was sure that Remus had stopped breathing… _'The reaction of a guilty person fearful that they have been caught?' _He thought, _'No, It couldn't possibly be Remus. Remus Lupin, One of his best friends, kind, caring Remus who was a friend to everyone…dark, dangerous Remus the werewolf…?' _Sirius knew that the dark lord had recruited all the werewolves he could convince to join him, promising them riches and power. Remus did not have much, but Sirius had thought his friend was content with what he did have… '_Everyone has a price'. _Sirius decided to keep his suspicions about Remus to himself until he was surer. After all, Livia was going to be their spy and would be able to tell them who it was anyway. At that moment a horrible thought occurred to Sirius. If Remus was the traitor, then he would tell the dark lord about Livia and her cover would be blown, they would know she was a spy!

Sirius got quickly out of the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist as he walked up the hall. The sooner he got back to the Potter's the better. He had to stop Livia from going through with this assignment. Realizing that she wasn't about to just go off and meet up with the dark lord himself in the next five minutes, Sirius forced himself back to a walk- he hadn't realized that he had started running in the first place. And turned his attention to his wardrobe, pulling out another nice white shirt he quickly put it on, and then rummaged around in his drawers looking for a pair of jeans. After pulling a comb through his dark hair and checking himself in the mirror, and once again, deciding that he looked pretty damn good, he ran down the stairs, grabbed his riding jacket and keys and ran out the door.

Landing his bike where he always did on Lily and James' back lawn, Sirius quickly dismounted and ran into the house. He entered the kitchen to see Lily handing James a plate of food. Seeing Sirius, James pointed at him and cried "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY BREAKFAST!" Sirius gave James a confused look then quickly asked "Where's Livia?" James blinked, having just shoveled a mouthful of egg into his face and waved a hand half-heartedly towards the lounge room. Sirius didn't reply to him, he simply turned and headed into the lounge room. He walked in to see Livia sitting on the couch that he had been sleeping on a few hours ago. She did not look up from the book she was reading until he had sat beside her. Livia looked up at him in shock. "Sorry, were you talking to me? I sometimes get so engrossed in a book I don't notice anything around me."

"I didn't say anything." Sirius replied slowly then just decided there was no better way to tell her than to just tell her. "Livia, you can't do this assignment for the Order. It's too dangerous, I think the traitor knows about you and they will have told the dark lord, they'll know you're a spy; they'll never trust you and will kill you. Don't do it!" Livia stared at Sirius for a moment "You think you know who the traitor is?" she asked. Sirius nodded. "I think they were here yesterday…"

"Not Lily and James?" she asked, Sirius gave her a look that suggested that he thought she were mad. "No!... where the hell…?"

"Clearly not Dumbledore."

"Clearly." Sirius replied, Livia tilted her head to one side, and frowned at him calculatingly "So you think it's either Peter or Remus. Your best friends."

"I know." Sirius replied "It's a horrible thought, but did you see Remus' reaction when Dumbledore told us about the traitor? I swear he stopped breathing, that seems odd to me."

"Really" Livia replied "I thought your reaction more unnerving, you didn't react at all." Sirius stared at her before backing off slightly "…you don't think _I'm_ the traitor?" he asked. Livia waved a hand at him 'No, Of course not, I know you'd never betray your friends."

"I would have thought the same of Remus, after what we did for him." Sirius breathed, Livia gave him a sympathetic look. "It might not be Remus, you could be wrong." She told him. "I hope I am, Liv." He replied, before grabbing her shoulders tightly. "Don't do it!" he whispered with a deadly intensity in his voice "Don't do it!"

"I have to!" Livia replied forcefully, pulling herself out of his grip. "I don't have a choice!"

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't" she said in a tight voice, tears coming to her eyes. Livia suddenly stood and turned, walking quickly up the stairs.

Sirius sat, for a moment, very confused, before he stood and walked back into the kitchen where James was finishing his breakfast and Lily was washing the dishes by hand. Clearly she had not wanted to interrupt the conversation between Livia and Himself so she had found something to waste her time. Sirius didn't wait for somebody to speak first; he simply and rather bluntly asked "Why is this assignment so important to Liv?" Lily sighed and pulled out her wand directing the dishes to wash themselves as she turned to face Sirius. "A few months into our sixth year at school Liv's parents were murdered my the dark lord." She said. Sirius stared at her.

"You're kidding." He said. Lily shook her head.

"My father wanted her to come and live with us, as he was her father's brother. But Liv didn't want to leave Ireland, so she went to her aunt's. Her mother's sister, who was a witch, like her mother. And then, about three years later her aunt was murdered."

"Oh Gods." Sirius breathed. Lily nodded

"Livia swore she'd do all she could to help bring the dark lord down, practically everybody she has ever cared about has been murdered by him. Petunia and I are the only family she has left now, and Petunia wants nothing to do with magic because she's scared that she'll be killed too."

"So, to get revenge Liv became a spy for the order?" Sirius asked. Lily nodded and replied "She had always wanted to do something with potions."

"Yah, James told me." Sirius said

"Well, this is why she didn't." Lily explained then continued in a softer voice "Sometimes, she gets a little obsessed with bringing the dark lord down and she sometimes seems a little…crazy."

Sirius stared at Lily "Crazy?" he asked. Lily looked like she regretted using that word, but nodded. Sirius was about to reply when James made a slight coughing noise, and Sirius looked up to see Livia standing in the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"I wouldn't say crazy" Livia said, walking forward. "'Obsessed' maybe. 'Determined', absolutely. 'Gonna bring the bastard down' certainly!"

"Ah, Liv, sorry hun, didn't see you there." Lily said quickly.

"That's okay." Livia replied, sighing and taking a seat at the table. "I know I sometimes scare people a little with my obsession."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have said what I said, I'm family…" Lily said. At the mention of family Livia's eyes flashed in anger then became windows to a deep soul-scarring hurt. As Sirius looked at Livia and saw the pain in her eyes, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, to comfort and protect her. However, as Sirius took a step forward towards her, Lily beat him to it. Kneeling beside her cousin, Lily looked up at Livia. "Hey" she said "You've still got me, and James and now Harry." Livia nodded and suddenly threw her arms around her cousin, hugging her tightly.

"Lily, what would I do if anything were to happen to you?" She whispered softly. Lily laughed.

"Nothing is going to happen to me." She said, standing up. "I'll be here for you forever. I promise." Livia nodded and smiled weakly, brushing her dark red hair back from her face, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw it belonged to Sirius; he was looking at her with concern in his eyes. "We'll get him, Liv." He said "We'll get the bastard, I promise we will." Livia smiled at him and replied

"That's exactly what I intend to do." Sirius paled.

"But, the spy…" he began, before falling silent. He knew that nothing short of death could stop Livia from doing this assignment. She smiled at him again and said

"Don't worry about the spy. I'll find out who they are, and if they were in the room yesterday, they can't go straight ahead and tell the dark lord because there are only a few people who know about me and they'll give themselves away."

"But what if the dark lord has been told and pretends not to know?" Sirius persisted. Livia tilted her head, thinking about this. She nodded

"It is possible." She conceded "But I don't care, I still have to do it."

"When are you going to meet the Dark lord?" Sirius asked Livia softly. Livia tilted her head slightly again and replied

"I have a contact. I met him in a small, dodgy kinda pub last week. I have to talk to him a bit more before he'll take me in."

"Who is he?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know his name…" Livia said musingly "And I didn't tell him mine…I'm to meet him again tomorrow night at the 'Griffin's Talon' at ten o'clock."

"Scary place." James commented "I wouldn't like to be going there to meet somebody I don't know, let alone somebody I did know was a servant of the Dark Lord."

"Mate, not helping!" Sirius said, looking up at James and frowning.

"Righto...Sorry." James replied with a grin.

"We'll come with you." Sirius told Livia firmly. Livia shook her head quickly.

"I have to go alone." She replied, "It's one of the conditions, if somebody else is with me, I don't know what will happen, but trust me, it wont be good."

"We'll go, in disguise, and sit somewhere nearby." Lily suggested. "Just as back up incase anything does happen then, just as a precaution." Livia nodded her head slowly.

"Okay then, I guess that would be okay…but if you get yourselves noticed, I don't know if I'll be able to do anything to help you, it could jeopardize the entire mission."

"We understand." Lily replied "We'll get Peter to baby-sit."

Sirius, James, Lily and Livia apparated into a deserted back alley in the middle of London. The alley led out to a dark wizard street that only the very brave (or stupid) dared to venture down. "Remember," Livia told them "Don't look at me all the time, don't keep glancing in my direction and don't keep getting up and walking past me. You don't know me, I don't know you, we have never seen each other before nor are we interested in each other."

"We know Liv." James muttered "You've told us at least a hundred times already."

"I know, but if you blow my cover. We're all dead." Livia replied impatiently.

"Okay, so James and I go and sit together?" Lily asked "Then Liv goes in. Then Sirius comes in and sits by himself in a corner to keep an eye on everything?"

"You got it." Livia replied, nodding "Now you two go." Lily smiled and hugged her cousin, before pulling her hood up and running out into the street with James.

"How do you think it'll go?" Sirius asked, trying to hide the fact that he was worried from Livia. He watched as she turned to face him, her dark red hair falling over her face, he could se she was worried too.

"It'll be fine." She replied with a forced smile. Sirius could tell the smile wasn't natural, it didn't reach her eyes, usually when she smiled her eyes sparkled; now they were filled with concentration and wariness.

"At least it's nice out." He said as it began to rain lightly. Livia looked up at the sky and smiled; a true smile.

"I love the rain." She replied simply. "It's cleansing." Sirius nodded

"I like it too."

Livia looked back down, up the alley, and then turned again to Sirius. "I think it's time I went in." she said. Sirius nodded slowly and as Livia went to walk away he caught her wrist and pulled her back. Livia stared at him for a second, her head tilted to the side in confusion until he spoke. "Be careful, okay." He told her. Livia let out a light laugh.

"Don't worry." She replied "I've done this heaps of times before."

"Yeah, of course you have." Sirius said, "But, just be careful, okay?" Livia nodded and Sirius suddenly leant forward and hugged her. When he released her Livia smiled at him, before pulling her hood over her head, hiding her bright hair, and hoping that Lily had the sense to do the same to her own hair. A second later, she had slipped into the street and was making her way through the rain, towards the 'Griffin's Talon'.

Sirius watched her go with a sick feeling in his stomach. He didn't like this, not one little bit. He had no doubt that Livia was good at what she did, but maybe this 'infiltrating the ranks of Lord Voldemort himself' was a little beyond, well…anyone. He gave Livia a five minute head start before following her out into the street. At the end of the street was a little old looking, run down three-story building, made of dark brown wood. It was a little crooked and only had lights in the windows on the ground floor. Above the large, heavy door was a sign that read "The Griffin's Talon" in large black letters. Sirius headed straight for it, pulling his cloak tight around him to block out the cold and the rain. Pushing open the large door, Sirius was immediately met with a burst of warm air and he resolved to find a table near a fire. He quickly spotted one over in the corner that was perfect and made his way towards it. Once seated he looked around. From his position, he could se everything in the room. The bartender was serving an old gentleman with a large mole on his cheek and an unhealthy twitch to his left eye. Over on the other side of the room were several Dwarves sitting in deep conversation and thick smoke from their pipes. Near the Dwarves Sirius spotted Lily and James, both still had their hoods up and were leaning towards each other across the table. Two tables away from Lily and James sat a pale faced man who Sirius was certain was a vampire. And near him, and closest to Sirius sat three hags, who were cackling away at something or other. Finally, near the stairs, sat Livia, alone. Remembering what she had said, Sirius looked away from her to wait.

A short while later the door opened and a cold gust of air swept into the pub, making everybody shiver. A tall, heavily cloaked man walked in and went straight to Livia, sitting opposite her with his back to Sirius. Sirius felt a tingling in his pocket and pulled out the mirror that he and James used to communicate through when they were in detention, back at Hogwarts, Sirius had suggested they bring them along incase they were useful. Looking down at the mirror in his lap he saw James' face. "Who is it?" James asked him "I can't see his face, the stupid git; I wish he'd turn around."

"I can't see either; he has his back to me." Sirius whispered back at the mirror. Suddenly Lily's face entered his field of vision, next to James'.

"Do you think the Dark Lord has agents in here like us?" she asked.

"Almost certainly" Sirius replied, wondering how Lily could fit in the mirror next to James. "How are you both fitting?" he asked looking up at the real them, they were leaning into the middle of the table their heads together. "You look like you're making out." He told them. Lily grinned.

"We're playing the star-crossed lovers card." She replied.

"I thought we _were_ star-crossed lovers." James said, looking up at Lily with a frown.

"Of course we are." Lily said "Now, we have to find out who this guy is."

"Hold it…he's moving!" Sirius breathed, looking up and over at the table where Livia and the cloaked man were sitting.

"I'd kill to know what they're saying." Lily muttered as Sirius continued to watch as the man pushed his hood back. Sirius gasped, he'd know that long black greasy hair anywhere…

"Severus Snape!"

Disclaimer. I'm not J.K. Rowling. Livia is mine and everyone else belongs to her.

I know its short and I promise the next one will be longer.

4


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